Road Trippin' to Denny's
by Yaushibee
Summary: Team Natsu and co are on a road trip. In a cramped van full of luggage. Oh, and Erza insists on singing. For the road-trip-in-a-cramped-car au and end-up-at-Denny's au prompts. Minor NaLu, Gruvia, and GaJevy.
1. Breakfast at Denny's

Another silly kind of AU. They're really good practice and who doesn't love team Natsu shenanigans, right?

I'm not too happy with the ending (I wrote myself into a corner but that's nothing new) but it'll do. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p>Just twelve more hours.<p>

Just twelve more hours, Lucy repeated to herself, and we'll be at the beach and enjoying Spring Break to its fullest. And more importantly, out of this damn van. It was cramped (stuffed full of people, luggage and beach balls) and hot (the AC wasn't working) and Lucy had spent more than enough time in it already to last her a lifetime.

"I'm gonna barf."

"Don't barf on me you-urgk, idiot."

Lucy glanced back from the passenger seat at Natsu and Gajeel, who were currently whining about their motion sickness-as they had done for the majority of the trip. "Natsu, put your seat belt on correctly." Lucy reprimanded. She had already told him several times to fix it but he still remained splayed out in his seat with the seat belt only resting around his waist. The top part he had put behind his back.

"But Luccccyy, I feel sick." Natsu moaned back.

"I don't care. Put your belt on or else I'll put you in a car seat!"

"They don't make car seats that big."

"Wanna bet?"

"Lucy." Gray sighed from beside her. He was driving and losing his patience with their passengers just as much as her, including her as well. He'd also lost his shirt somehow. "I already have a headache, can you keep it down?"

"Does Gray need some aspirin? Juvia has some!"

Gajeel turned back to look at his roommate with a glare. It didn't hold the same level of effect as it normally would given his queasiness. "You have aspirin and you didn't give it to me?"

"Gajeel didn't ask Juvia." She replied smoothly.

"Then give me some now."

"No. It's for Gray."

"Gajeel, I have some Midol if you want it." Levy offered. She was sitting squished between Juvia and Erza in the back seat.

"No way, shorty, I'm not having any of that damn girly stuff! It'll probably turn me into a lady or something."

"Sorry I offered."

"Natsu, put your seat belt back on!"

"It's better without it, Lucy."

"I think it's time we partake in some classic road trip song." Erza said then and everyone in the car groaned. She cleared her throat. "Ohh, 99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer..."

Lucy put her head in hands. Just twelve more hours.

* * *

><p>It was 6 AM when they finally stopped driving for the night. They had run out of gas along the highway and had to be towed to the closest town. If it could be called a town, that is. It was really no more than a gas station and a Denny's. While Gray stayed at the gas station while he fueled up the van, the rest of them had gone to get some breakfast. The last meal they had was dinner and that was twelve hours ago.<p>

Lucy slid into the booth seat, followed by Natsu and Levy. She slumped against the table top. Due to the drama of needing a tow and the "thrill" of not knowing if they'd run out of gas, she hadn't gotten much sleep during the night.

She tiredly glanced around the restaurant. It was empty aside from a few truckers and the waitress who told them she'd be over in a minute. She let her eyes shut as Erza and Juvia returned from the bathroom. They took their seats at the booth.

"Where's Gajeel?" Lucy heard Levy ask.

"Still using the faculties, I imagine." Erza replied. "Ah." Lucy opened her eyes and saw the waitress standing at their table. She placed the menus down and smiled at them.

"Late night?" She asked.

Lucy sat up and picked up a menu while the others engaged the woman in conversation. Lucy squinted at the fine print and exaggerated photos of breakfast food drowning in maple syrup. Her eyes caught the sight of french toast with a side of hash browns and eggs. She knew what she was ordering.

Natsu was looking over the menu beside her. She set down her own on the table again and asked him what he was getting. He grinned and pointed to an item on the back page.

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "'Senior Scrambled Eggs and Cheddar Breakfast?'" She read aloud and looked at Natsu, brows furrowed. "Natsu, that's from the fifty-five years or older menu."

"So?"

"You're not older than fifty-five." Lucy said deadpan.

"How do you know? No one knows my birth year so I might even be older than eighty."

"Natsu..."

"I'm just kidding, Luce. I'm going to have this one." He pointed to the menu again and Lucy's eyes nearly popped out. The Lumberjack Slam that he wanted consisted of two pancakes, a slice of grilled ham, two bacon strips, two sausage links and two eggs, plus Hash Browns or grits. Oh, and to top it off your choice of bread.

"Do you really need all that?" Lucy questioned incredulously.

"Of course he does, he's a bottomless pit." Gray said, gaining the table's attention. He took a seat beside Levy.

"You don't even know what she's talking about." Natsu scowled at him.

"No, but I can guess that it's the biggest item on the menu." Gray shrugged and took up one of the spare menus on the table.

Gajeel returned then as well and took a seat next to Erza.

"What took you so long?" Levy asked.

"None of yer business." He grumbled. He had gotten even less sleep than Lucy had since he'd refused Levy's Midol and couldn't get any shut eye when he felt like puking the whole time. Unfortunately this made him even crankier.

Levy frowned and was about to say something back when the waitress reappeared. "Ready to order?" She asked. Those who had the time to look over the menu ordered first and then followed by Gray and Gajeel. The waitress folded her notepad and grabbed the menus. "Okay, hang tight and I'l be back with your O.J. in a sec."

As she left, everyone collectively slumped back into their seats. Some of them may have gotten some rest but they were still pretty worn. And also still all cramped together. Lucy silently wondered why they hadn't chosen to take two tables so they could finally spread out. She leaned against Natsu's side. Well, it wasn't so bad and at least Natsu wasn't motion sick at the moment.

"We only have four more hours and we'll be at the beach." Erza said, folding her hands on the table. "I look forward to some time in the sun."

"Me too." Levy sighed longingly, resting her head on her hand. She glanced out the window. The sun was barely up but it was looking to be a good beach day already.

"I'd rather get some sleep first." Lucy yawned.

Juvia nodded. "Juvia would also like to get some shut eye first."

"We have to go to the hotel first anyway." Gray said, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand. "Though I'm not driving anymore."

Natsu and Erza both spoke at the same time. "I will."

"No!" Instantly came the simultaneous reply of the other.

"Awh, why not?" Natsu whined.

"You get motion sick, idiot, remember?" Gray said and Natsu glared at him.

"Why not I?" Erza asked, her brows pulled together. The others shared a panicked look. If Erza drove, they'd no doubt make it to the beach ahead of schedule but the question was if they'd arrive in one piece.

"Why don't I drive?" Levy offered. "Erza you can..." She looked to Lucy for help.

"Sing." Lucy improvised and instantly regretted it. At least it was better than ending up in some mangled car crash. Maybe. "To keep up morale."

The group looked at her with a mix of doubt and dread but Erza nodded her head. "Very well. We can start up a reprise of '99 Bottles.'" She sounded quite pleased.

Lucy forced a smile. "Then it's settled."

* * *

><p>They stepped out of the Denny's at seven. The day was starting to heat up now and the sun was higher in the sky. Lucy attempted to soak up some of those rays while she waited for Gajeel and Levy to go get the van.<p>

Juvia was at her side, fawning over Gray as he changed his shirt (there was a misfortunate "accident" while they were eating where Natsu had spilled his orange juice on the garment. Gray was still seething about it but Juvia seemed tickled that her spare shirt she kept in her purse for him came in handy.)

Natsu and Erza were returning from one last trip to the bathrooms when the van pulled up. Gajeel was riding shotgun this time.

"Hey, no fair. I wanted shotgun this time." Natsu complained.

"Too bad, get in." Gajeel scowled. Even food hadn't tamed his crankiness.

"Come on, Natsu." Lucy said pulling on his arm as she climbed into the van. She was too tired to deal with drama about the seating now. "I'll sit in back with you." Natsu grumbled under his breath but complied. Erza followed him in, then Juvia and Gray.

"Alright, let's head to the beach!" Levy said cheerfully from the driver's spot. Lucy smiled and let her head rest against Natsu's shoulder. Maybe she could catch some sleep before they made it to the hotel.

Levy put the car into gear and began to pull away from the curve when a loud hissing sound was heard from the left side of the van. Levy quickly hit the breaks and looked out the side-view mirror. The cheerfulness drained from her face as the entire van began to sink on one corner. "Uh guys..."

An already knowing dread filled the car as she unnecessarily finished the sentence. "I think we have a flat tire."

Lucy put her head in her hands.

Just twelve more hours. Again.


	2. Accommodations

They had run out of gas, gotten a tow, had to replace the tire that had popped, and stopped at least four times just in that day for a "puke-break." All things considered, it was a miracle they'd even made it there at all.

Not that they were officially at the beach though.

Like planned, they went to the hotel first which was just a few minutes walking distance from the white sand and cool waters. Since they had reservations, Erza went ahead to the lobby to get their room keys while the others unpacked their bags from the back of the van.

"Ahh, I can't wait for a nice nap." Lucy sighed, stretching her arms over her head. It felt good to be out of the cramped van again.

Levy pulled her bag from the back and set it by her feet. "I just want to take a shower; I feel disgusting." She said with a frown, looking down at her rumpled attire. She hadn't changed since yesterday morning and now it was almost noon.

"Agreed." Lucy nodded, pulling at the hem of her own day-old t-shirt. She stifled a yawn. "But, nap first."

"What's taking Scarlet so long?" Gajeel asked as he tossed his bags over his shoulder. He'd already recovered from his motion sickness.

Natsu, on the other hand, looked fairly pale still and a little green but that didn't stop him from bouncing on his heels. Lucy wasn't sure where he got his energy from. "Maybe we're going to get a room upgrade." He replied.

"You dolt," Gray said, taking out the last of the bags and hitting Natsu's arm purposely as he set it down—he was still peeved about the orange juice incident earlier. "We barely got a room as it is. There is no way we'd get an upgrade."

Natsu scowled at him but Lucy stepped between them before they could start something. "The counter might have just been busy. It is spring break, after all." She said. She glanced at the door of the hotel for signs of the redhead and smiled brightly. "Look, here she comes now."

But, somehow Erza's expression didn't scream enthusiasm. "It seems," she began as she stopped before the group, "that our reservations, well—" she stared hard at the ground for a moment.

Juvia spoke up when Erza did't say anything for a moment. "Is something wrong, Erza?"

"Apparently, our reservations were lost." Erza finally spit out. She looked soberly at her gaping friends. "I'm sorry, it's my fault I must have messed up when I called them before. Please punish me."

No one could respond at first. After all they went through to get there, they didn't have a hotel to stay at. Lucy felt like falling on the ground in defeat.

"However," Erza said, looking a little more cheerful, "the owner apologized and set us up at another establishment. It's not as nice as our rooms were supposed to have but it was the only place available."

Lucy brighten immediately upon hearing the news. "That's fantastic, Erza. Where is it?"

"Not too far from here. I believe it's actually closer to the beach than this hotel is."

"Great, then let's go; I need sleep." Gray said.

"Yeah, no kidding."

Gray smacked Natsu with the bag again.

* * *

><p>"Not as nice" was an understatement.<p>

The place the owner had set them up at was an ancient looking motel. From the outside it already looked bad but not wishing to make Erza feel worse, they hoped for the best and checked in. Their hopes we quickly lost.

The rooms themselves were way worse than the outside. The wallpaper was an ugly blue marine themed pattern that was obscenely obnoxious and peeling near the ceiling, the carpets were shag and looked like a wet dog in spots. Lucy had to hold her breath from the moldy smell that hit her as she walked in.

"Are those water beds?" Levy asked cautiously. She tapped one with her flip-flopped foot. It rippled and she turned away with a concealed look of horror.

Lucy tried to find the bright side as she watched Levy then move on to check out the bathroom only to step right out again. She wasn't even trying to cover up her disgust now. "At least we'll mostly be at the beach anyway so the room doesn't matter, right?" She tried smiling but it didn't console any of the girls.

"I'm sorry." Erza said, her head down. She sounded defeated.

"Juvia thinks it's fine." Juvia replied, touching Erza's arm briefly. "Water beds can be fun."

"I think I'll shower at the beach." Levy said after a minute of silence. She'd been the only one in the bathroom but the others nodded their heads in agreement—they would shower at the beach as well.

"Let's try to get some rest for now." Lucy suggested. Gingerly setting her bag down on the chair beside her—she was glad the bag was washable—she moved towards the bed and sat down. It was definitely a water bed.

The others eventually laid down as well, Levy sharing with Lucy and Erza and Juvia together in the other. The sheets at least felt somewhat clean so they all relaxed a little. They were too tired to be picky anymore, no matter how justified the claims.

As Lucy felt sleep tugging at her, she heard a loud shout from the room next door.

"THERE'S SOMETHING GROWING IN THE SHOWER!"

"WELL, DON'T TOUCH IT, IDIOT!" Gray's yell back at Natsu resounded through the walls. Gajeel shouted a few swears after that which were slightly more muffled, then threatened to make them eat that mold if they didn't both shut up and let him sleep.

It was a miracle that they were there indeed.

* * *

><p>Some of you wanted a continuation and I felt in the mood tonight so I quickly did this. The motel idea was inspired by a similar one my family almost stayed at for the 4th of July when I was younger. The room back then wasn't nearly as bad as their's is but it was still pretty gross haha.<p>

I didn't go back and reread any of this, so excuse the mistakes! Stay tuned for the part where they finally (?) make it to the beach.


	3. The Beach

Once they got some much needed rest, the refreshed group donned their swimwear and sunscreen, and headed for the beach. At least the motel, as gross as it was, was closer to the beach than their previous hotel.

It only took them three minutes to reach the sandy shores and were not surprised to find how busy it was.

"It's beautiful!" Lucy exclaimed, pushing her sunglasses onto her head to get a better view for the coast. She refused to let the large crowds deter her mood; they had made it to the beach, at last.

Erza nodded in agreement, looking out from under the brim of her sunhat. "Let's find a spot to set up the blankets."

It took some searching but they found a spot some ways off that was free and they quickly claimed it. Erza instructed the boys to set up the umbrella while Levy, Lucy and Juvia spread out the blankets and beach chairs.

Levy took a glance at her watch once they were all set up. "It's almost noon. Someone should go get some lunch." She said.

"I think we can wait for a bit." Lucy disagreed, sitting down on her star—patterned blanket. "Besides, if we go right now it would be pretty busy."

"True. It might not be best to eat right away, anyway." Levy said, looking out over the water. She wasn't sure if Gajeel or Natsu would get motion sick from the waves but she didn't like the idea of risking them throwing up again.

"Hey, wanna play frisbee?"

Lucy and Levy looked up at Natsu who was waving a red frisbee in his hand and grinning. He leaned in and added in a whisper, "To make it fair, we'll have it be all of us against Erza."

His grin grew wider and Lucy felt tempted to laugh but saw Erza out of the corner of her eye and opted for a safer option. "Does it have to be a competition, can't we just toss it around without any teams?"

Natsu leaned back up again and shrugged. "Fine."

Lucy got up as he asked the others if they wanted to play. Erza, Levy, and Juvia decided to opt out of the game whereas Gajeel and Gray said yes. The boys were already in a full on war with each other before the game even began, despite Lucy's wish for it not to be a competition. They tossed insults and boasts of their impending victories as they made there way out to a clearing where they could play.

Gray tossed the frisbee to Lucy who then tossed it in Natsu's direction who sent it flying back to Lucy. It went to Gajeel next and then the cycle went all over from there. Juvia cheered for Gray from the sidelines, Erza already working on her tan. Levy had pulled out a book and didn't seem to be paying attention to anything outside of it.

The game continued in the tame manner for awhile until Gray said something to work up Natsu and, of course, Gajeel got into it as well. Soon, Lucy found herself having to dodge the lightning fast throws instead of attempting to catch them. Eventually it got so wild that Lucy called out and began to back away. The boys could duke it out by themselves without taking her head off in the process.

Lucy had only taken a few steps away from them when Levy walked up beside her. "Hey guys, Erza thinks some of us should go get some lunch. I'm going to go so who wants to join me?" She asked and her distraction proved fatal. Gray had launched a powerful toss and Gajeel hadn't been paying attention to it. So instead of catching it, the frisbee went flying past him and in Lucy and Levy's direction.

"Oh, my nose!"

"Levy!"

* * *

><p>"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked, hunching beside her friend. Levy turned to look at her, a baggy of ice gingerly pressed against her nose. Thankfully for Levy—and Gajeel's conscious—it hadn't broken but it was still looking pretty swollen.<p>

"It hurts some but I'm fine." Levy said, putting up a brave face. Lucy wasn't all that convinced but knew that Gajeel still felt bad so she didn't press the subject any further.

She gave her friend an understanding smile instead and stood up to talk with Erza. "I guess someone else should go to get lunch then."

"Juvia will do it." The woman offered as she came to stand beside them.

Erza nodded. "I don't like the idea of you going alone though."

"I'll go." Gray said from his beach chair. Juvia looked delighted despite his next words. "I'm hungry and this way I can eat faster."

"Where are you going to get food from?" Natsu asked. He had just come from the water, still dripping wet and took a seat on the beach towels, soaking them too. Lucy tried not to let that bug her. They were bound to get wet anyway.

"Juvia thinks she saw a Subway a few blocks down."

"That seems easy enough." Lucy agreed.

After taking everyone's orders—which was nothing short of a fiasco in and of its own—Juvia and Gray headed off to Subway. Erza said she wanted to continue tanning so she stayed with Levy by the beach blankets. Gajeel hung back as well so it was just Lucy and Natsu who headed for the water.

"I told you not to make it a competition." Lucy reprimanded once the others were out of earshot.

Natsu shrugged. "She'll be alright." Then he added. "It was Gray's fault anyway."

Lucy sighed but dropped the subject as her toes hit the water. It was cool but not cold, and it lapped around her ankles. She squinted as she looked from the water towards the horizon, a smile playing on her lips. This is what made all their travel troubles worth it.

Natsu grinned at her reaction, grabbing onto her hand after a moment and pulled her into the water with him. It felt colder than before as she went in deeper but it was still nice. She grinned back at him.

"I can't believe we still have three whole days to spend here." Lucy said, splashing the water lightly with her hands.

"Maybe we can find a different hotel before we head back." Natsu commented, lowering himself into the water so it was up to his mid-chest. "There really was something growing in the shower."

Lucy laughed. "I don't doubt it." She tilted her head then, crinkling her nose. "I'm pretty sure that there is some growing in our shower too, judging by Levy's reaction. If we can't find a different place to stay, we're buying some bleach."

Natsu nodded and splashed some water at her. "Hey, Natsu!" Lucy scolded, though there was no real anger behind her words. "You'll spot up my glasses."

"Pff, Lucy it's going to happen anyway when you're at the beach." Natsu snorted. Lucy scowled, then smirked, splashed him with her own wave of water. From there a splash war broke out. He splashed her and she splashed right back.

It was when Lucy was trying to keep Natsu dunked underwater—not all that possible with her strength against his—that she noticed something in the water, not too far out.

She let Natsu bob up to the surface and he was about to retaliate when she pointed a finger in the direction of what she saw. "Natsu, what is that?"

Natsu turned his head, a look of curiosity on his face as he squinted at the object. "It's a...Shark fin?" He mumbled then his eyes grew wide.

Lucy shared a panicked look with him. "It can't be, can it?!"

Natsu opened his mouth to reply when others in the water had taken notice of the fin as well. From the water to the shore and up to the boardwalk terrified screams of "Shark!" "There is a shark in the water!" "Everyone out of the water!" irrupted.

From her spot on the shore, Levy had dropped her ice pack. She gaped as she watched Natsu throw Lucy over his shoulder and head for the shore, while other panicked swimmers did the same. The beach was in chaos and Levy turned to Erza just in time to see the redhead sit up. Levy's mouth gaped wider but could only stutter as Erza ran towards coastline to Natsu and Lucy.

Many others, despite their panic, stared at the woman as she went by.

Levy was speechless as she turned to Gajeel, who was in a similar state of shock as she was, then back at the beach blanket Erza had been laying on. Their friend, in the sudden chaos, had forgotten she had taken her bikini top off while tanning and had run off without it.

Erza was in the nude.

* * *

><p>Gray and Juvia exited the busy sub shop and into the midday sun, their hands full of sandwiches. Since Gray was hungry, they had ended up eating their subs in the store first and then ordered for the others when they had had their fill.<p>

"Juvia hopes the others aren't upset we took so long." She commented as they made their way back to the beach. She nervously played with the strap of her bathing suit top. Gray chose to direct his eyes elsewhere.

"They can deal with it." Gray replied, pulling his sunglasses on.

"Juvia supposes..." She trailed off.

They walked in silence for awhile before Juvia spoke up again. "Gray, isn't it a bit quiet?"

Gray lifted his head from his phone, noticing the odd silence as they approached the beach. All he could hear were sea gulls and the waves. "Did something happen?" He wondered out loud.

Juvia and Gray sped up the pace. When they reached the beach again, they nearly dropped the sandwiches.

The beach that was so booming before was empty. Or, almost empty. Where they had set up their blankets, their friends were still there. Along with some police officers.

Who were arresting Erza.

"What the hell did we miss?" Gray demanded as they ran up to the group.

It was Lucy who addressed the question. "There was a shark in the water and Erza got up without realizing her top was off and—" She ran a hand through her hair and looked distressed as Levy tried to talk the officers out of making an arrest for indecent exposure.

Juvia joined in on Levy's efforts. She had become something of an expert at keep Gray from getting thrown in jail for his stripping habit. And whatever she said seemed to work, as the officers complied to their pleas and let Erza off with a warning.

When they left, everyone slumped onto the sand, feeling more exhausted than they had before their naps.

"This is turning out to be one hell of a spring break." Lucy sighed, running a hand through her hair again.

Levy nodded halfheartedly. "It'll make for some interesting stories to tell when we get back."

"I don't even want to think of the horrors the trip back will bring through." Gray muttered. Everyone nodded glumly at that.

"Hey, did you guys get those subs? I'm starved." Natsu spoke up and Juvia tossed him the bag. He quickly dug through it searching for his. He felt tempted to punch Gray for the fact that he had it labeled "flaming moron" but was too hungry to care for now. He could punch Gray later.

Natsu then passed the bag to Lucy who took out hers and Levy's, then gave the bag to Erza. Gajeel got the bag last and as he unwrapped his sub he stared quietly at it for a moment.

"I didn't order this."

"Yeah, you did." Gray countered.

Juvia backed him up. "Meatball sub. That's what Gajeel ordered, Juvia is sure."

"I asked for a Philly."

"Well that's too bad. Eat the meatball sub, you damn butterfinger."

"What'd you call me?"

"Butterfinger. Can't even catch a frisbee."

Gajeel's eyes narrowed and Lucy shrunk back towards Natsu, who was too busy eating—though he did look rather entertained by Gray's nickname—to get involved in the escalating fight between the two.

"Juvia thinks too that Gajeel should have caught that." Juvia said around her bottle of water after Gajeel slung a couple insults back at Gray.

"Perhaps we should sing some fun beach songs." Erza broke in and Lucy stared at her in disbelief. Just minutes before she had been in a state of depression about almost getting arrested; now she had an excited glimmer in her eye. "I heard they can be just as fun as car songs!"

Gajeel ignored the redhead, choosing to instead to continue his insults and Gray retaliated. Levy tried to intervene only to get elbowed in the face.

"Oh, my nose!"

"Levy!"

* * *

><p>So that wraps up the beach adventure I guess (unless you guys want more...). Nothing seems to be going right on this vacation, huh? It was difficult not to make this too similar to the two beach omakes (there is the anime ova one and then the one where Lucy is practicing for a photo shoot from eons ago) but I think I like how it played out. I pray you catch that Brady Bunch reference in there.<p> 


End file.
